IMPAIRMENT OF WORKING-MEMORY IN THE T-MAZE AFTER TRANSIENT GLOBAL CEREBRAL-ISCHEMIA IN THE MONGOLIAN GERBIL

Using a T-maze, the influence of transient global cerebral ischemia on working memory in gerbils was investigated. Furthermore, it was exami ned whether a correlation exists between impairment in choice accuracy in the T-maze and neuron loss in the hippocampus. In two experiments, male Mongolian gerbils were tested in a previously learned delayed al ternation T-maze task 1 week after a 4 min occlusion of the common car otid arteries. In both experiments memory was significantly impaired a nd in the second experiment, where the design allowed a separation bet ween working and reference memory deficits, a selective impairment in working memory was seen. The results suggest that ischemia-induced dis ruption of delayed alternation in the T-maze in gerbils is a model whi ch is relevant to the clinical manifestations of vascular dementia. (C ) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.